One tip for drying veg, unless you have a glut of really fresh veg use frozen veg. Frozen veg is picked and frozen fast keeping in all the goodness. Remember that a kilo pack of carrots is a full kilo, no wast involved. I use the kilo packs from Iceland stores and they work really well especially peas, sweet corn, carrots and sliced green beans. I dry minced beef into what Americans call 'Hamburger Rock'. Dry fry the mince, rinse with boiling water to remove the fat and dry. This makes a good base for spag bol or curry. Fat free meat like this will keep for months, any meat with fat in it lasts a lot less.
Fresh mushrooms when dried are great, the water you soak them in to re-hydrate them gains the most intense flavour and is perfect to use as a stock or make soup.
Good luck with your drying, let us know how you get on and PM me for any other help I can offer.
